Sand-box.



F. W. KALLOM & P. S. TOENNESEN.

SAND BOX.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4, 1915.

1,168,398,- Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c

F. W. KALLOM & P. S. TOENNESEN.

SAND BOX.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4,1915. 1,168,398,, Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

2 $HEETS-S E T 2- 15 1a 16 Z6 1 1H 12 THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO-KWASIHNGTON, D. c.

UNTTE$ STATES PATENT @FFTQE.

FRANK W. KALLOM, OF MALDEN, AND PETER S. TOENNESEN, OF EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAND-BOX.

Application filed May 4, 1915.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that we, FRANK W. KALLOM and PETER S. TOENNESEN, a citizen of the United States and a subject of the King of Norway, respectively, residing at Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, and Everett, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, respectively, have invented certain Improvements in Sand-Boxes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicat ing like parts in the several figures.

Street cars are usually provided with two or more sanding devices (hereinafter for convenience referred to as sand boxes), usually consisting of a hopper, a discharge spout leading from the hopper to a point adjacent to the rail in front of the front forward trucks of the car and a valve or equivalent device for controlling the flow of sand from the bottom of the hopper to the spout. The flow or feed of sand in practically all of these devices in common use is effected by gravity and much trouble is experienced with devices of this character due to the tendency of the sand to pack together so firmly near the bottom of the hopper that it will not flow out of the hopper when the discharge valve or ate is opened. WVhile it is a common practice to bake the sand used in sand boxes, this expedient does not entirely cure the objection just mentioned for the reason that enough moisture works up through the discharge spout into the sand in the bottom of the hopper to cause it to pack together when there is any substantial weight of sand above it.

The present invention has for its chief object the construction of a device of this character which will avoid the objections heretofore experienced. It is proposed to effect this object by taking the sand from the upper layers in the hopper instead of from the bottom, since the top layers of sand are always dry and loose and therefore will run freely.

The invention also'is directed to the provision of a thoroughly reliable and practical device of this character which can be economically manufactured and can be easily and cheaply repaired.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

Serial No. 25,742.

These and other objects and features of the invention will be readily understood from the following description of one embodiment thereof, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a vertical, sectional view showing a sand box constructed in accordance with this invention and installed in a car; Fig. 2 is a vertical, sectional view through the device shown in Fig. 1 but showing the parts on a larger scale, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal, sectional view on the plane indicated by the line 3-3, Fig. 2.

The apparatus shown comprises a hopper consisting of a base 2 best shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and a container 3 usually made of sheet metal and having a small lower end that slides snugly into the top of the base portion 2. The base 2 is provided with flanges by which it may be secured to a suitable support. A sand delivery tube 4 extends vertically through the bottom of the hopper and is mounted to be raised or lowered with reference to the hoper. This tube is laterally supported and guided at the bottom of the hopper by several small rolls or pulleys 5 which are rotatably mounted in small brackets formed on the lower surface of a member 6, constructed as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 to fit snugly within the bore of the base 2. This member is held in its operative position by a retaining plate 8 provided on its edges with a series of ears 9, as best shown in Fig. 3, which normally rest in slots formed in the vertical wall of the base part 2. By turning this plate in a counter-clockwise direction, as it is seen in Fig. 3, until the projections 9 are disengaged from the slots, the plate may be removed and the member 6 may then be lifted out of the base. To facilitate this turning movement the plate is providedwith two vertical wings 10 which afford a convenient grip for the workman in either removing or replacing the plate.

The tube 4 is open at both ends, as clearly shown in the drawings, and is normally held in its uppermost position by springs so that its upper open end will be above the surface of the sand in the hopper and the tube consequently will prevent any flow of sand out of the hopper. The mechanism that holds the tube in its elevated position comprises two rods or tubes 12 pivoted, respectively, to the opposite sides of the upper edge of the hopper 3 so that their free ends extend toward each other. Each tube 12 is encircled by a compression spring 13 which abuts at one end against a collar 14: fast on the free end of the tube 12 and at its opposite end against a collar 15 arranged to slide freely on the tube 12. An outer tube 16 incloses each spring and is fast on its respective collar 15. The adjacent ends of the tubes 16 are connected together by a stout cord or chain 17, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The opposite sides of the upper portion of the discharge tube 4 are cut away forming opposite intake openings for sand and leaving two parallel members connected by a short shaft 18 on which a small pulley 18 is rotatably mounted. This pulley rides on the cord 17. It will be evident from an inspection of Fig. 2 that the springs 13 will tend to force the two collars 15 away from each other and thus to hold the cord 17 in as nearly a horizontal position as possible. This action, of course, tends to hold the tube 1 in its uppermost position.

In order to depress the tube 4: a small U-shaped shackle 21 is mounted on the shaft 18' and a cord or equivalent device 22 is fastened to this shackle and extends clownwardly through the tube A and through a conduit 23, being guided over pulleys 24, 25, 26 and 27 and connected to a handle 28 positioned within convenient reach of the motorman. Accordingly, when the handle 28 is pulled, the tube 4: will be lowered and as soon as the handle is released again the springs 13 will act through the connections above described to raise the tube to its initial or normal position.

In order to keep the sand from binding against the tube one or more scrapers may be employed. In the arrangement shown two scrapers 30 and 31, respectively, are used. The upper scraper 30 is secured to the lower side of the plate 8 by bolts and is shaped like the surface of the frustum of a cone. The upper edge of this scraper closely encircles the tube 4 and is made very thin so that, by virtue of its close fit with the tube and its peculiar shape, it will direct the sand at the bottom of the hopper away from the surface of the tube. This arrangement alsohas the advantage of offering very little friction to the movement of the tube. The lower scraper 31 is shaped like the scraper 30 and may merely rest upon the upwardly inclined bottom 7 of the member 6. This scraper has very little work to do and may, under some conditions, be discarded. Sev eral slots 11 are formed in the bottom 7 of the member 6 to permit any particles of sand that pass the scraper 30 to drop through.

As a further means for keeping the sur face of the tube 1 free from sand therepref--- tube slides.

A discharge spout 3-1 is clamped in the lower end of the base 2 and is also supported by a bracket 35 which is rigidly mounted below the base 2 on suitable braces. Gonnected to the lower end of this spout 34 is a flexible spout 36 of the type usually employed on devices of this character and which conducts the sand down to a point adjacent to the rail.

It will now be evident that, when the handle 28 is pulled, thus lowering the discharge tube 4 in the manner above described, the upper open end of the tube will be moved down below the level of the upper layers of sand in the hopper. Inasmuch as these sand boxes usually are located under the seat in This arrangement forms, in effect, a. stufling box through which the dlscharge the car, as shown in Fig. '1, the upper layers of sand are kept dry and therefore the sand in this part of the hopper will flow freely through the tube 1 and through the dis charge spouts 34 and 36. Thesizes of the tube 4 and of the intake opening at its upper end are so proportioned as to prevent too rapid a flow of sand even in case the whole upper end of the tube is submerged. As soon as the need for sand ceases the motorman releases the handle 28 and the springs 13 lift the tube 1 to its normal'position where the intake opening will be above the level of the sand. The flow of sand thus will be cut off until the tube is again de-,

of sand in the hopper. lVhen the tube A is lowered in the manner above described, the

consequent movement of the tubes 16toward each other and toward the delivery tube 4 will cause the scrapers 37 to push the sand in front of them toward the intake openings in'the upper end of the tube 4. The tubes 16 also serve by their contact with the sand in the hopper to limit the downward movement of the delivery tube when the handle 28 is pulled, since it would require a great deal of force to embed the tubes 16 forany substantial distance in the sand. Because the lower edges of the intake openings at the upper end of the tube 4 are some distance below the level of the tubes 16 these openings will be practically submerged in the sand before the downward movement of the delivery tube is stopped. The tubes 16 also prevent sand from lodging between. the coils of the springs 18 wnere it would retard their movement.

An advantage of the arrangement shown is that it prevents the moisture that comes up through the discharge spout from working into the sand and thereby causing it to pack together in the manner hereinbefore mentioned It is obvious, of course, that a great many changes may be made in the details of construction of the apparatus and in the manner of operating the discharge device without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a sand box, a hopper for sand and mechanical discharging means for the sand operable to take sand from the top layers in the hopper and discharge it from the hopper while leaving the lower layers substantially undisturbed, and means for operating said discharging means.

2. In a sand box, a hopper for sand, discharge device for the sand and mechanism for relatively moving said device and hopper to cause the upper layers of sand in the hopper to run through said discharge device under the influence of gravity while leaving the lower layers of sand substantially undisturbed.

3. In a sand box, a stationary hopper for sand, a discharge tube extending through the bottom of said hopper and arranged to be raised or lowered relatively to the hopper, said tube having an intake opening normally positioned in the hopper at a point above the level of the sand in the hopper, and means for raising and lowering said tube to control the delivery of sand therethrough from the hopper.

l. In a sand box, a stationary hopper for sand, a discharge tube extending through the bottom of said hopper and arranged to be raised or lowered relatively to the hopper, said tube having an intake opening in the hopper, means for normally holding said tube in a raised position with said intake opening above the level of the sand in the hopper, and means for positively lowering the tube.

5. In a sand box, a stationary hopper, a discharge tube extending through the bottom of the hopper, said tube being open at both ends, springs acting on the tube to iold it normally in an elevated position with its upper open end above the level of the sand in the hopper, and manually operable means for lowering said tube against the action of said springs.

6. In a sand box, a stationary hopper, a

discharge tube extending through the bottom of the hopper, said tube being open at both ends, springs actin on the upper end of the tube to hold said end normally above the level of the sand in the hopper, a manually operable device and a cord connecting said device with said tube whereby, when said device is operated, the tube will be pulled downwardly against the action of said springs and will be raised again by the springs when said device is released.

7. In a sand box, a hopper for sand, a discharge tube extending through the bottom of said. hopper and arranged to be raised or lowered relatively to the hopper, said tube having an intake opening in the hopper, means for normally holding said tube in a raised position with said opening above the level of the sand in the hopper, means for lowering said tube, and movable scrapers operative upon the downward movement of the tube to scrape sand toward the tube.

8. In a sand box, a hopper for sand, a discharge tube extending through the bottom of said hopper and arranged to be raised or lowered relatively to the hopper, said tube having an intake opening in the hopper, means for normally holding said tube in a raised position with said opening above the level of the sand in the hopper, means for lowering said tube and a scraper at the bottom of the hopper closely surrounding said tube and constructed and shaped to direct sand away from the tube.

9. In a sand box, a hopper for sand, a discharge tube extending through the bottom of said hopper and arranged to be raised or lowered relatively to the hopper, said tube having an intake opening in the hopper, means for normally holding said tube in a raised position with said opening above the level of the sand in the hopper, means for lowering said tube, a scraper at the bottom of the hopper closely surrounding said tube and constructed and shaped to direct sand away from the tube, and guide rolls positioned below said scraper and serving as lateral supports and guides for the lower portion of the tube.

10. In a sand box, a stationary hopper for sand, a discharge tube extending vertically through the bottom of said hopper and arranged to be raised or lowered relatively to the hopper, a stufiing box in the bottom of the hopper through which said tube is arranged to slide, and a scraper closely surrounding the tube and positioned above said stalling box, said scraper being operative to direct sand away from the tube.

11. In a sand box, a hopper for sand, a discharge tube extending vertically through the bottom of said hopper and arranged to be raised or lowered relatively to the hopper, said tube having an intake opening in the bottom of the hopper and each closely surrounding the tube and shaped to direct sand away from the tube, and a layer of fibrous inaterlal closely surrounding said tube and positioned between said scrapers.

In testimony WhGIGOf'WQ have signed our names to this specification.

FRANK l/V. KALLOM. PETER S. TOENNESEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

